Why Does Love Have To Be So Complicated
by toothlesslover12
Summary: Hiccup and Astrid have been dating for quite awhile now. Snotlout hates that fact. When the two Vikings get into a fight, get some odd notes from each other, things go from bad, to worse. Who really wrote the notes, will they make up, and will they ever get married? I do not own Httyd. My best friend helped me write this.
1. How to Break Up the Hard Way

Chapter One

How to Break Up the Hard Way

"Hiccup?" Astrid called. "Are you in there?" She knocked on the door to Hiccup's private workshop. Hiccup had been missing the whole day, and Astrid had already checked the cove. The only other place he ever went to be entirely alone was his workshop. If Hiccup wasn't in there, Astrid had no idea where he was.

She pulled out her key. "Okay, if you won't let me in, I'm coming in on my own!"

Not a very dangerous threat, but ever since Hiccup had given her one of the two extra keys to the workshop, it had become a habit of hers to go in and leave him sweet little notes of encouragement. She had never broken in before, but if he didn't answer within the next five seconds, she definitely would. No exceptions whatsoever.

The five seconds passed and she turned the key in the keyhole. Opening the door, she looked in. Hiccup was hunched over his desk, working intently on something. He didn't notice Astrid sneak in.

Astrid love to play jokes on her boyfriend, so she kept quiet and looked around. Hiccup was always working on something new. Pictures were posted all over the walls. They were mostly projects ideas and blueprints, but some of them were of Toothless, Hiccup's Night Fury, and a few were of her.

A new picture of Toothless with a fish hanging from his mouth was hanging up. "Cute new picture." Astrid said.

"What!?" cried a startled Hiccup. He turned around to stare at his girlfriend. In the process, he shoved his project behind his back, trying to hide it.

"Oh, I was just admiring your picture." Astrid answered.

"Yeah, uh, that, he-he. Yeah I just drew that yesterday." Hiccup replied nervously.

"So, you do know that you've been in here all day right?" Astrid countered. "Were you planning on spending any time with your friends today?"

Hiccup hesitated, but finally answered, "Can I sleep on that?"

"Uh, huh. I thought so. Your projects are becoming more important than your friends. Like Toothless, who I'm sure wants to go flying. And what about Fishlegs? You two haven't updated the Book of Dragons for at least a week!" Astrid yelled.

"Look, Astrid..."

"Aren't I missing someone? Oh, yeah, ME! YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" Astrid was really mad.

"I'm sorry. But this is a really important project and you will definitely forgive me once I'm done. Okay?"

"Not okay!" Astrid cried. "Goodbye!" With this she left the room, almost as angry as the day that Hiccup had paid Heather more attention than her. She ran past Toothless, who was waiting for Hiccup outside the door. He growled a hello. "Hey, Bud." she said, trying to hide her tears from her boyfriend's dragon.

Toothless watched her run away, and then went into Hiccup's workshop.

Hiccup had his head laid down on his desk. Toothless nudged him. Hiccup's hand came to rest on his dragon's muzzle. "Hey bud." he said. "Astrid and I just had another fight. That's the fourth one this week. I just know that she probably hates me, and now I have no chance of her ever saying yes."

Toothless gave his owner a questionable growl.

"Well, I... I... Toothless, I.. I'm in love with Astrid, and I was going to propose to her, and now..." Hiccup looked at his dragon, tears streaming down his face. "She'll never say yes."

Toothless gave his owner a friendly lick to try and comfort him. He didn't quite understand what his owner was feeling towards Astrid, but he knew it was strong.

Hiccup sighed. He really did love Astrid, probably had for two years at least. He had finally made up his mind to propose to her, but she definitely did not feel the same way he did. For all he knew, she probably liked Snotlout better than him, after the way she had acted. What was he to do?

Astrid had rushed home, tears blurring her vision. She opened the door to her house and ran to her room.

"Astrid?" her mother called, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." she sniffed.

"I can tell that you're not."

"Mama, I'm fine. Please just leave me alone."

"Alright."

Astrid laid her head in her pillow and cried. Stormfly poked her head into her owner's window. She snorted. "Hey, girl."

Stormfly gave her owner the, what's wrong look.

Astrid sniffed again. "Hiccup's hates me, that's what's wrong. And Stormfly, I don't' hate him. I can't hate him. Stormfly, I love him!" Astrid threw her arms around her dragon and cried. She poured out all her feelings to her pet. She had apparently been in love with Hiccup for at least a year, she had just never told him. Now she regretted that. "Stormfly, if I had told him, maybe this would never have happened. We'd just be a happy couple moving through life as though nothing was wrong." She sighed.

"I've messed up my whole life."

Stormfly snorted, not quite sure how to answer. She nuzzled Astrid, trying to understand better.

"I'll be fine girl. Don't you worry." Astrid sighed, and finally said, "Why don't we go flying? It will get my mind off of Hiccup, and you need the exercise."

Stormfly growled her approval. Astrid climbed onto her back, and they flew out the window. Upon reaching Raven's Point, their normal place of rest, they came across Hiccup and Toothless, who had also gone flying to calm Hiccup's nerves.

"Hey," Hiccup said, steering Toothless over next to the girls. "Look, about earlier…"

"I'm over it." Astrid rudely answered, without letting him finish. "There's nothing to talk about."

Hiccup looked hurt, but said, "Okay, so I'll see you later." He turned Toothless away.

Astrid suddenly had a change of heart. "Hiccup! Wait!" She flew Stormfly over to the other two. "I didn't mean that. I was just mad that you were spending more time in your workshop with your projects than with your friends.

"You, you mean."

"Yes, well that too. But I miss you when you hide away in there all day. I makes me wonder whether you really care about me."

"Astrid, don't be silly. Of course I care about you. You're my girlfriend for Thor's sake. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be dating you."

"Well, tomorrow, can we hang out?"

"Sure we can meet here."

"Perfect. See you then."

Astrid woke up the next morning; spirit's higher than the night before. She and Hiccup were finally going to spend some quality time together, just them. She hopped out of bed, and walked into the front room of her house. "Good morning, Mom, Dad." She said.

"Good morning, Astrid. Why are you so happy this morning?" her father asked.

"Hiccup's finally found time to hang out with me." Astrid replied. "We're going to spend the day up at Raven's Point."

"Have fun dear." Her mother called after her, as she grabbed her axe and dashed out the door.

Once on the front porch, Astrid found a piece of paper nailed to the door. It looked like a card. A picture of Toothless' tail was on the front. So was this message:

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue,_

_Sugar is sweet,_

_And so are you… But…_

Astrid opened the card, and read the rest of the note.

_ Astrid,_

_I know that things have been a little rough with us lately, and I want to fix that. So I changed my mind about something. Please don't take offense to this; it's a me problem, not a you problem, but my life is really busy, and I don't have a lot of time, what with the dragons and all that, so… I'm really sorry, but, I'm breaking up with you. I'm sorry._

_From,_

_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third_

Astrid couldn't believe what she was reading. Hiccup was… breaking up with her? How could this be happening? Tears filled her bright blue eyes. Sadness and anger filled her heart. She ripped the note into the tiniest pieces she could manage and tossed the pieces into the bush next to the porch. She wiped her eyes, not wanting her parents to see that she was upset, and she went back inside.

"I thought you and Hiccup were going up to Raven's Point." Her dad said.

"Change of plans, he's… he's…" Astrid couldn't hold it back any longer. She just started crying on the spot.

"Astrid?" her dad asked, while her mom said, "He's what?"

"He's breaking up with me." Astrid mumbled through her tears. She ran to her mom and hugged her. "Oh, Mama, he left a note on the front porch saying that he's too busy, and he's breaking up with me!"

"Oh, Astrid." Her mom pulled her in close, and hugged her tight.

Astrid continued to cry. Her heart felt like it had been torn in two. Why would Hiccup do this to her?

Meanwhile, Hiccup had gone to Raven's Point to wait for Astrid. He never was going to break up with her. He had no idea of what was going on at her house. Right now, he was wondering where she was. Did she forget? That wasn't very likely. Maybe she had gotten tied up in chores to do for her parents, and was just going to come a little later than planned.

_That has to be it. _Hiccup concluded. He mounted Toothless and went back to his own house. He told Toothless to stay outside while he went and got the ring from his room. It would be the perfect setting to propose, once he and Astrid finally were alone. On his way back out, his father called him back inside. "Hiccup," he said, handing his son a note. "This was on our door this morning. It's for you."

"Thanks, Dad." Hiccup said as he opened the note. He read to himself:

_ Hiccup,_

_Please do not take personal offense to this. It's not you, it's me. I was just thinking about what's been happening lately, what with our fighting and all, and I changed my mind. I'm really sorry about this, really sorry, but I'm breaking up with you. Our relationship isn't worth the fighting._

_Affectionately,_

_Astrid Hofferson_

"WHAT!" Hiccup yelled aloud. "SHE'S BREAKING UP WITH ME!?"

"Who is Son?"

"Astrid. I don't believe this. Why would she?"

"Girls are strange."

"This isn't like her." Hiccup sighed. "See you later Dad." He walked out the door, said nothing to his dragon, and went to his workshop. Once there, he threw the ring into the closet, never wanting to see it again.

Little did either Hiccup or Astrid know that the other had never intended to break up with them. Someone had planted the notes, just to make them think that. The question was… Who?


	2. How to Save the Day

Chapter Two

How to Save the Day

The rest of the day didn't go so well. Hiccup got the teens together to have a dragon training session, but he had Fishlegs go get Astrid, not quite sure how to face her.

Astrid reluctantly came to training, but refused to join in. Snotlout asked her what was wrong, and she answered, "It's none of your business. And besides, I'd rather not talk about it anyway."

Hiccup had planned to do a lesson on Deadly Nadders today, but because Astrid refused to help, he decided on Nightmare's instead. "Snotlout, bring Hookfang here."

Snotlout stepped forward with Hookfang following him. "Yes?" he questioned.

"I'm doing a lesson on Nightmare's, and I want your help."

"Okay." Snotlout said, rather happily. That was unlike him. He normally hated Dragon Training.

"I want you to show us how easy it is for Hookfang to set himself on fire."

"Okay." Snotlout said again, giving Hookfang a light flick on the nose. Hookfang lit up just a little. "Now if I touch him just a little harder in the same spot…"

"Oooh, oooh, I want to do it!" Tuffnut cried, rushing forward.

"Uh, no Tuff. That's not a good idea." Hiccup said, but it was too late. Tuffnut had already punched Hookfang in the muzzle.

Hookfang growled and lit up at once. He started shooting fire at everyone and everything.

Heather, who had been late for training, walked into the academy, followed by her Nadder, Thunderstorm said, "Sorry, I'm late guys, I…" She stopped as Hookfang shot a burst of flames at her. "What's going on?"

"Why don't you ask your idiotic boyfriend!" Snotlout yelled.

Astrid thought, _You're lucky that you still have a boyfriend. Mine broke up with me._

Hiccup was trying to get the restless dragon to settle down. "Hey! NO! Bad Hookfang! Stop!"

Hookfang had used up his shot limit, so he stopped, and lied down on the floor.

"Finally!" Astrid cried. "You know, Dragon Boy," she said meanly, "You could have fixed that a lot faster. Now I can't stay for the rest of the lesson because my parents want me home in five minutes. Goodbye." She lied. Stomping out of the academy, she was thinking, _Oh great job Astrid, now he's going to dislike you even more. He already broke up with you. Are you trying to get him to not be friends with you too?_

"Astrid!" she heard someone call to her. "Wait up!" Heather came up alongside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Uh, I don't think so. I have never seen you call Hiccup Dragon boy before. Are you guys doing okay?"

"Yes."

"Astrid, you're lying."

"Okay, so we're not doing okay."  
"Did you guys have another fight?"  
"Yes."

"Why don't you just talk it out with him?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"BECAUSE HE BROKE UP WITH ME! THAT'S WHY I CAN'T TALK TO HIM!"

Heather gasped. "He broke up with you? That doesn't sound like Hiccup to me."

"Well he did. You should be glad that you still have Tuffnut."  
"When did he tell you?"

"He broke up with me through a note." Astrid sniffed.

"That's..."

"Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Goodbye." With this, Astrid stomped away, her dragon on her heels.

"A note?" Heather wondered aloud. "Hiccup would never break up with her through a note. He would never break up with her at all. So why does she think he did?" She walked back into the academy, where only Hiccup and Toothless remained. "Hiccup?"

"Oh, Heather, hi."  
"Why did you break up with Astrid?"

"I didn't. She broke up with me."

"Really? She says that you left her a note saying that you broke up with her."  
"She left me a note!"

"So you never broke up with her?"

"No!"

"Alright, I believe you. Look why don't you go to the cove to think about this."  
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Come on Toothless."

Toothless got up and Hiccup climbed on. Heather watched the boy and his dragon fly off into the woods.

"So, Hiccup and Astrid both think the other person broke up with them. I bet neither one did. But who would be so desperate for them to break up like that…" The answer suddenly came to her. "Snotlout." She rushed out of the academy to get Astrid. She had a plan.

"Astrid!" she called, dashing into her best friend's house.

"Hello Heather," Mrs. Hofferson said. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"No time to talk Mrs. H. This is urgent!" Heather dashed to her friend's room. "Astrid?"

"Yes?" came a muffled answer from the bed. Astrid had her head buried in her pillow. She looked up, tears streaming down her face. "What now? Didn't you get the memo that I don't want to talk about HIM anymore. I don't care."

"Then you don't have to do the talking. I will." Heather sighed, hoping that Astrid would listen to her. "Listen, Hiccup said…"

"HEATHER! I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT DRAGON BOY SAYS ANYMORE! HE BROKE UP WITH ME AND NOW I'M LEFT WITH A BROKEN HEART! DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS? DO YOU? I DON'T THINK SO!"

"Astrid, I just think you might like to know that he never…"

"Never what? Actually cared for me? I already had that one figured out."  
"No, he… Uh never mind. Hey, how about you take Stormfly to the cove? It might make you feel better."

Astrid stood up. "That's not a bad idea. I love going there. I bet I'll feel a lot better once I've done that." She put Stormfly's saddle on her and they took off.

As she watched her two friends fly away, Heather hoped, _Please let everything turn out okay._

Astrid landed in the cove and jumped off of her dragon. She looked up at the big rock where she always liked to sit, and who should be sitting there but Toothless and Hiccup. "Oh, well, look who's here. If it isn't you two."

"Astrid." Hiccup nervously replied. "Hi. Do you want something?"

"Well, now that I think about it," she paused. "Yes. Yes I do want something. I want to know what exactly you were thinking when you wrote that note."  
Hiccup grew puzzled. "Note? Astrid I have no idea what you're talking about. I never wrote you a note."

"Really? Then how come I found a note on my door this morning from you that said that you were breaking up with me?" Astrid cried. "If you didn't write it, who did? Because as far as I know, you're the only boyfriend I have… had. And if you didn't write it, then who is out to break my heart and make me think that the boy I love hates me. Who? I…" Astrid stopped, seeing that Hiccup's eyes had gotten very wide.

"I thought you wrote me a note." He finally answered. "You broke up with me." Hiccup pulled the note out of his vest pocket and handed it to her. "See?"

Astrid took the note. "I never wrote this. I wouldn't. Not to you."

"And I never wrote you a note. If I were going to break up with you I would tell you face to face. Writing a note is something that Snotlout would…" he paused and looked at Astrid who returned his horrified stare. "Snotlout." They said together, realization dawning on them both.

"He did this." Astrid said, madder than ever. "Oh when I find him I am going to toss him over the cliff on Raven's Point and he will not live to see another day."

Hiccup looked at her and said, "So are we uh…"

"Back together? Yes, Hiccup." Astrid smiled. "We are."

Hiccup, who normally let the romantic things to Astrid, gave her a huge hug. "I'm never going to let you go again. Ever." He promised.

"Hiccup, that's so sweet." Astrid sighed. "I love you too."  
Hiccup blushed, realizing that Astrid had gotten his meaning on the first try. He smiled releasing iHIHHic

her from his grip.

Toothless and Stormfly sat and watched their humans, both thinking, _Humans are so strange when they like each other._

Astrid looked into Hiccup's forest green eyes for the first time in a while. "You know what always captivated me the most?" she asked.

"What?"

"Your eyes. They're just so green." Astrid sighed. "I can almost see the forest reflected in them."

"Uh…"  
"In girl speak, that's a big complement. To translate it means that I think your eyes are your best feature."

"Okay." Hiccup had never really thought that when Astrid looked at him that she would see anything to complement. Even though they were dating, he had always though that she still thought that he was just a scrawny Viking boy. But now that he thought about it, everyone had always said that his eyes held a lot of expression and that they were his best feature, so why wouldn't his girlfriend think the same?

"Hiccup? Are you still alive in there?" Astrid asked.

"Oh yeah. Just thinking."

"About what?"

Hiccup looked down at her, finally realizing that he was a good four inches taller than her. "You." He said. "I…" he found himself at a loss for words. He knew that no words could express what he was feeling, so he gave up. Except, when he looked back at her again, as if on instinct, he bent his head, and kissed her. ON THE LIPS.

Astrid was shocked. Hiccup had never kissed her before. She had always kissed him. She looked at him in disbelief. When he blushed, she smiled and replied, "I know exactly what you're thinking. So don't worry, I liked that." As she pulled away to go home, as it was nearly time for dinner, she kissed him on the cheek. "See you later."

Hiccup smiled as he watched her go. He mounted Toothless and said, "Now to find that ring."


	3. How to Propose (Not)

Chapter Three

How to Propose (Not)

Hiccup was going through the closet in his workshop where he had thrown the ring. The floor was already covered in piles of random items. Hiccup had no idea that his closet was so messy. He had been digging through things for an hour already, and the ring was so small he was worried that he would never find it.

Toothless sat at his side looking through the discarded items just to make sure that Hiccup hadn't missed what he was looking for. That would be bad. Rummaging through and old burlap sack he found a who knew how old salmon. He growled happily causing Hiccup to look up.

He laughed. "I wouldn't eat that it I were you Toothless. That's been in there for forever."

Toothless sighed, wishing that he had eaten earlier from the pond. It was always teaming with fish.

"Grr. Where is that ring?" Hiccup mumbled. "I know it's in here somewhere, so where is it?"

Meanwhile, Astrid was looking for him yet again. She walked up to the door of his workshop. "Hiccup, you are in there, aren't you?"

The only thing that she got for an answer was a sword coming partway through the door. She gasped. "I'm going to assume that you are just fooling around and that that was not meant as a threat. I…" Another sword came through. "And if you don't want to talk to me right now that's also fine." She turned and began to walk away when a loud crash came from the small room. "Are you okay?" she called. "Hiccup?" Upon getting no answer, she opened the door, being careful to avoid the swords sticking out of it.

A large pile of stuff fell slightly out of the door. "Uh, Hiccup…" she said, just a little worried about the mess.

"I'm okay!" he cried sitting up, with a barrel stuck on his head. "Sort of."

Astrid giggled uncontrollably. "You look so funny."

"Really Astrid? Because I am failing to find the humor in this." He said in mock anger.

"I'm not. Do you want some help?"

"No, Toothless can get it."

Toothless gurgled and pulled the barrel off of Hiccup's head. "Thanks Buddy." He said, giving the Night Fury a pat on the head. "That's much better."

Toothless leaned over a picked up a small black shiny box. He smiled.

"You found it!" Hiccup cried.

"Found what?" Astrid asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Hiccup tried, hiding the box behind his back.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Hiccup smiled. "Will you come to the woods with me for a minute or two?"

"Sure." Astrid leaned over to help him up and then the two of them walked hand in hand into the forest. Once there Hiccup told her to sit down.

"So, I have to ask you something and uh, I'll understand whatever your answer but… uh… Astrid, will you…" Hiccup never got to finish because Snotlout charged through he woods screaming something about a wild Nadder.

"ASTRID! DO SOMETHING! YOU'RE THE NADDER EXPERT!" he yelled.

"Give me a sec." she told Hiccup.

And so over the next four hours, Hiccup tried five different times to propose, but Snotlout kept interrupting. Of course Hiccup knew that Snotlout had figured out what he was doing and was trying to keep it from happening. And he was succeeding. Finally, Tuffnut came into the picture. "Tuff! Oh thank goodness you showed up! You are a life safer!" Hiccup told him.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Now, here's what I want you to do. I need to talk to Astrid and Snotlout keeps interrupting. If he shows up, knock him out or something, okay?"

"Sure, but why? What do you need to talk to her about that is that important?"

"Uh, nothing. Just please don't let Snotlout come, okay?"

Tuffnut looked confused but he agreed.

Hiccup went back over to Astrid. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. What were you going to ask? I think you're tried like six times." She said.

"Yeah, and this time I intend to succeed. Here goes…" He took a deep breath. "Astrid will you…"

"You hoo! Astrid!" someone called. It was Snotlout, dragging an unconscious Tuffnut behind him. "Do you know CPR? I think Tuffnut is dying."

"Uh…"

Hiccup was shocked. Snotlout had of course knocked Tuffnut out instead. The lesson, never leave one of the twins on guard duty. Never. "THAT'S IT! I'M DONE! I GIVE UP! I CAN'T DO THIS! WHATEVER! GOODBYE!" Hiccup yelled in frustration.

"Give up at what?" Astrid asked.

"TALK TO THE HAND!" Hiccup said as he stormed away, holding up his hand. He was terribly angry.

"What's going on? Did I miss something?" Tuffnut wondered as he woke up.

"Yes, I think you did. I know I did." Astrid said.

Snotlout just snickered in the background.

Hiccup was really down so he went to the cove and tossed the ring somewhere. He didn't care where. It had caused too much trouble.

Little did he know that Toothless was going to find it, and save the day.

Later that night, he was up in his room lying on his bed. Toothless was sitting on the floor looking at the empty basket that had held his supper, thinking about that fact that he was still very hungry and his owner was sulking about who knew what.

"Hiccup?" someone said. Astrid walked into the room.

"Oh, hey." He sighed.

"What went wrong earlier? You just stomped off. What was that all about?" she worried.

He sighed. "Snotlout just gets on my nerves so much! All I wanted to do was ask you if you would marry me and he just kept interrupting! How he knew I have no idea I just…" he stopped, seeing that Astrid's mouth was hanging wide open. "And I just said that, didn't I?"

"That's what you wanted to ask me?!" she gasped. "Oh Hiccup… I…I…" she stopped short and threw her arms around him. "Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Hiccup put his arms around her as well. "I did have a ring but…"

Toothless nudged him and dropped a box at his side.

"You what?"

"I have to give it to you."

"I have a feeling that that is not what you were going to say."

"Oh well." He opened the box. "Here, hold out your hand."

Astrid did and he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was golden, and it wrapped around into the shaped of Toothless's tail. The prosthetic was made of a diamond and a ruby, so the colors were right. The other tailfin was just gold. Astrid smiled and leaned into Hiccup's shoulder. "I love you." She murmured.

"Love you too." He gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's pretend that after you stormed of, I was mad at you and I broke up with you. That way, we can fool Snotlout and get back at him for the notes, and interrupting your proposal." Astrid giggled. "That would be nice."

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "Just, it's all a trick right?"

"Right. Really we are actually engaged and we are faking to get back at Snotlout."  
"Okay, if you think it will work…"

Astrid gave him a soft punch in the arm. "Trust me. It will work." That ended the conversation. Hiccup pulled her in and kissed her and then held her close. It was one of the best times ever.


End file.
